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Monday, February 21, 2011

We're eating most of the big fish from the ocean and replacing them with sardines. So says a new study:

"predators like tuna, cod and swordfish have seen their numbers drop by two-thirds over the past century, while small prey fish such as herring, caplin and anchovies have doubled."

This produces a "while the cat's away, the mice will play" scenario, where the nasty, hungry big tuna and swordfish have mostly been caught, and so little fish like sardines get to play in a much more hospitable ocean

This study says "yes" in the scientific debate over whether or not people have been fishing down food webs in the ocean--catching the big fish first and producing an ocean full of small fish. There is a "no" side to this debate, with strong evidence against the idea that we're everywhere fishing down food webs.

What's a fish lover to do? It's simple really, let's let the scientists duke it out over who's right and see who's left standing. The real challenge is getting people to behave better and not catch too many of the big fish or the little fish.

I have a deep fear of whales and sharks, so I will not miss those floating monsters. Sharks are easy to explain, but whales? I don't know, they just seem vengeful, you know, for all those years of hunting them. I can see that big eye looking at me now, just before it knocks my rudder off. Fat blubbery vengeful bastards.